So I was hearing these radio people talking about first dates and they seemed to push the idea that it’s almost a given that people would be drinking alcohol on first date. As if it was a courtesy.
I was surprised to find after Googling this that maybe half of people online think the same meanwhile others are fine with just getting coffee or something.
I can maybe see how coordinating to maybe meet at a bar is somehow more feasible after work and perhaps works out better during the week VS having to go somewhere during the day on weekend but I would imagine it depends on the person.
I for one don’t understand how drinking makes sense where I’m at. Even I’m in a good metro area but I’d still have to go downtown to be walking to a bar. It’s the US, so I still feel that no matter what, people still have to drive. Why drink if you’re gonna drive?
What do you guys think? Does the date go smoother with an alcoholic drink? How have your experiences been and do you guys have a particular preference?
(Yes, I’ve never dated and therefore have no insight.)
It’s common, but not expected in the sense that most potential partners would be put off by your choice not to drink. If a date pressures you to drink when you don’t want to, that’s a red flag. Maybe propose something other than a bar if you don’t want to drink.
A large number of people, perhaps even a majority think that it’s perfectly fine to drive after light drinking. The bar industry in the USA has tried to push a narrative that it’s mainly severely impaired drivers who cause crashes and the current DUI thresholds are too low. I used to think that until I went looking for research to back it up and found that there’s a pretty linear response in terms of driving worse as BAC increases. Driving is dangerous enough without any impairment.
For me, 0.08 BAC would mean I feel drunk as shit. Other people may not feel it. The fact that people think it’s too low is baffling.
People who binge drink frequently get used to it and don’t feel very drunk at 0.08. It doesn’t mean they’re not significantly impaired. Add that to a bit of propaganda from the bar industry, which has an incentive to normalize impaired driving and it starts to make sense.